Documentations have been a signature specialty of a nurse attorney when handling cases for some nurses. However, some nurses tend to forget this fact because they really felt like they should be responsible even if they never intended to commit such an error.
One such incident occurred on or about March 4, 2008, to an RN in Carrollton, when she failed to document the Oxygen Saturation Level of a female patient who was on a mechanical ventilator. Her actions may have deprived subsequent caregivers of essential information on which to base their patient care.
Additionally, the RN failed to ensure that the Cardiac Monitor was properly and continuously connected to the patient. Her failure deprived the patient of detection and medical intervention of a significant change in condition, which may have prevented the patient from experiencing eventual asystole.
This issue was filed as a complaint and sent to the Texas Board of Nursing. The Texas Board of Nursing has full jurisdiction in all cases that may affect the status of an RN or LVN’s license in the future. But they advise nurses to attend a hearing first before placing the sentence, which the RN attended for her career’s security.
In response to the incidents, the states that when assigned to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), she expressed concern to management that she is a Medical/Surgical nurse and did not have ICU experience. She adds that she was then assigned three critical care patients without any technicians, unit secretary, or cardiac monitor technicians.
As a result, the Texas Board of Nursing placed her RN license to disciplinary action. It’s too bad that she failed to hire a nurse attorney for assistance, knowing that she had every reason to defend herself in the first place. Her defense would have gotten better if she actually sought legal consultation from a Texas nurse attorney as well.
So if you’re facing a complaint from the Board, it’s best to seek legal advice first. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An is willing to assist every nurse in need of immediate help for nurse licensing cases. To contact him, please dial (832)-428-5679 for a confidential consultation or for more inquiries.